Module ARA2166 for 2016/7
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ARA2166: Revolution, Reform or Status Quo
This module descriptor refers to the 2016/7 academic year.
Module Aims
The module aims to provide you with an understanding of the political situation in a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. The core focus of the module is the political situation in each country and the prospects for change – i.e. whether regime change is a real possibility, whether significant political reforms falling short of regime change appear likely, and what are the forces driving/halting such reform processes. Among the topics covered are graduate unemployment, Islamism, the War on Terror, ethnicity, elections, and political systems. The course makes use of a number of books, journal articles and think-tank publications in order to expose you to a wide variety of material. Moreover, during the seminars, you will also be tasked with researching newspaper articles in order to obtain further - and more recent - data, particularly on the various elections and outbursts of civil unrest. The intention behind the use of both theoretical and/or empirical material is that by assisting you in mastering different types of texts, you will hopefully gain the skills to discuss the issue of ‘reform, revolution or status quo?’ in a country specific and a theoretical setting. A further aim is to provide you with a level of knowledge that allows you to discuss the topic of civil society and change in the Middle East and North Africa, not only in the selected cases, but across the region. Finally, the course aims to develop your skills as academics and independent researchers, thereby equipping you for the future, regardless of whether you aspire to a career in academe.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. understand the key issues in the debate on the status of regime change and political reform in the Middle East and North Africa; 2. understand the forces that aid the persistence of authoritarianism in the region; |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. use and analyze secondary and primary data relevant to specific issue areas; 4. place issues discussed in a wider context plus deploy critical arguments; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. develop critical and analytical skills through readings, class discussions and presentations; 6. enhance your ability to undertake political analysis. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Introduction: The persistence of authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa
Tunisia. Ben Ali’s regime and its demise: A facelift or profound change?
Algeria. The bloodshed of the 1990s and the merits of authoritarianism
Morocco. The monarchy as a guarantor of stability: Domestic and international perspectives
Egypt. The 2010 elections and their aftermath: The end of the line for the Mubarak family?
Libya. Qadhafi and the War on Terror: Lessons on how to stay in power
Sudan. The reign of Omar al-Bashir and the secession of the south
Pacts or revolutions? Theories of regime change
Debating the pros and cons of regime change
Essay workshop
Revision
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity | 22 | Teaching will take the form of seminars and brief lectures. Each week's class will begin with student presentations, followed by a seminar organized around the discussion of the theme of the week. The discussion will make reference to the presentations, the texts read at home, the formative reaction paper for the week, and current events, which students are expected to keep up to date with. At the end of each week's class, there will be a short lecture by the module convenor to ensure that all material has been covered fully... |
| Guided independent study | 128 | A variety of independent study activities directed by your module leader |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Other Learning Resources
Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the various libraries.
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Blaydes, Lisa (2011) Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boukhars, Anouar (2011) Politics in Morocco: Executive monarchy and enlightened authoritarianism. London: Routledge.
Cavatorta, Francesco and Vincent Durac (2011) Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World. London: Routledge.
Collins, Robert (2008) A History of Modern Sudan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hemmer, Jort (2009) Ticking the box: Elections in Sudan. The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael. Available online at http://www.nbiz.nl/publications/2009/20090900_paper_cru_hemmer_elections_sudan.pdf.
Kausch, Kristina (2009) Tunisia. The Life of Others. FRIDE Working Paper 85. Available online at http://www.fride.org/descarga/FRIDE-WP85-INGLES.pdf
Kazemi, Farhad and Augustus Richard Norton (1999) ‘Hardliners and Softliners in the Middle East: Problems of Governance and the Prospects for Liberalization in Authoritarian Political Systems,’ in Howard Handelman and Mark Tessler (eds) Democracy and Its Limits: Lessons from Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 69-89.
Le Sueur, James (2009) Algeria since 1989: Between terror and democracy. London: Zed Books.
Martinez, Luis (2007) The Libyan Paradox. London: Hurst and Company.
Perkins, Kenneth (2004) A History of Modern Tunisia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schmitter, Philippe (2010) ‘Twenty-Five Years, Fifteen Findings,’ Journal of Democracy 21(1), pp. 17-28. Available online at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/v021/21.1.schmitter.pdf.
Vandewalle, Dirk (2008) Libya since 1969: Qadhafi’s revolution revisited. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
(2006) A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
